REVIEW PAPER
Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine
1
Department of Medical Imaging, Ophthalmology and Vision Science and Neurosurgery, University of Arizona College of Medicine, USA
2
Department of Medical Imaging, University of Arizona College of Medicine, USA
3
Department of Medical Imaging and Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Arizona College of Medicine, USA
4
Business – SimonMed Imaging, Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Submission date: 2020-04-29
Acceptance date: 2020-07-20
Publication date: 2020-09-25
Pol J Radiol, 2020; 85: 550-574
KEYWORDS
MRIlow back painneck paindegenerative disc diseasespondylodiscitisInsufficiency fractureinsufficiency fracture
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Low back and neck pain are common and result in significant patient disability and health care expenditure. When conservative treatment fails or worrisome clinical findings are present, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the imaging modality of choice to assess the cause and complicating features of spine pain. There are many potential aetiologies of spine pain with similar clinical presentation, including degenerative changes, infection, and insufficiency and pathologic fractures. MRI allows for the differentiation of these sources of spine pain and potential complicating features, permitting the appropriate direction of therapy.
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